Movie Review - 'Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen'

Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen Starring Shia LaBeouf, Megan Fox, and a bunch of effects Directed by Michael Bay Rated PG-13

Sitting through Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen is singularly depressing. Only a few films have ever cost as much money to produce, and few films of its stature have ever been so devoid of brains, heart, soul, energy, impact, and story. In short, this is Hollywood at its worst. I nearly walked out. The one thing Transformers gets right is the visual effects. Specifically, we're dealing with more Transformers than before, as if that outweighs the absence of character development. The first Transformers, perhaps in spite of itself based on the current evidence, managed to have some heart and intelligence even though it, too, was a showcase for computers and not actors. And that's fine; there's a place for it. Hell, Star Trek is one of the most enjoyable movies of 2009 using more or less the same formula. How is it even possible that Trek and the Transformers movie from 2007 both employed two of the three writers of the new film, Roberto Orci and Alex Kurtzman? Director Michael Bay is not known for engaging your brain, but even for Bay, this film represents an all-time low. The robots in Revenge of the Fallen have more personality than the human characters, save for John Turturro's returning government agent. They also have too much dialogue and suspicious accents, which is a milder way of saying they project ethnic stereotypes. Two of them make Jar Jar Binks look like a paragon of political correctness. The plot concerns a Decepticon (they're the bad guys) named The Fallen that was banished from Earth centuries earlier. His minions continue to battle the Autobots even after the events of the first movie. The Fallen, as you might expect, wants his revenge. Why the other Decepticons can return and he can't, even though he does before he can, is never appreciably explained. As it relates to the humans, the character development is limited to Shia LaBeouf not telling Megan Fox he loves her. That's about it. Nothing else that happens to them or between them breaks new ground. Oh, he sees visions of symbols, which he believes is something in an old Cybertronian language, or maybe the official tongue is called Transformer. The effect on LaBeouf of these visions is a cross between A Beautiful Mind and Close Encounters, but oddly, once the symbols are deciphered, he never sees them again. The other characters returning from the 2007 film do pretty much what they did the first time and the new characters aren't worth mentioning. As an audience, we need to feel something, we need to go along for the ride, we need to have that connection with the characters we already know and forge bonds with the ones that are new to us. It. Never. Happens. The effects, as expected, run roughshod over everything else in Revenge of the Fallen. The one thing that bothered me about the Transformer battles in the first movie was that you couldn't quite make out everything that was going on in giant robot hand-to-hand combat. It wasn't a deal breaker, but it was noticeable. That problem still exists, but the effects remain the most impressive thing about the movie. There are tons of flaws, like the physics behind a Decepticon vacuuming a conversion van into its churning "mouth" with cyclonic wind power but leaving firmly planted on the ground two men who were ducked down behind the vehicle, and those things would be fun to point out if, like the first movie, Revenge of the Fallen were dumb fun. But it's not fun at all. It's just a $200 marketing bonanza, with no thought given to why we go to the movies. It's as if the enormity of the thing should be reason enough to see it. This isn't a movie; it's a commercial for a movie.

Comments

[anybody]

My jaw dropped when I saw the one lonely ape. Mainly that Kurtzman and Orci wrote such a bland film after the (popcorn) greatness Star Trek and even the first Transformers. I was so looking forward to this flick and I'll still see it but now with lower expectations.

[Miguel]

Kurtzman and Orci probably could not be arsed about the transformers franchise as michael bay his directing is as shallow a movie can become... they'd better focus on the second season of fringe and the new trek sequal.

i mean... if u worked with JJ Abrams for so long, doesnt that make Michael Bay look like some fuck up in every single way?

[RMC]

Spot on... one of the worst movies i have ever seen; and definitely the worst since seven pounds anyway

[IN]

Yo man don't listen to this fool dude up there. Movie is great. Amazing I might add. Indeed I am a fanboy. Just remember this, Spielberg is the executive producer, he's not gonna let his pet project Shia make a bad movie.

Overall, I'd say go see the movie IMAX or big screens. The reviewers will tear it apart and the movie will do gangbusters in the box office.

Peace

[Honz Brix]

Just want to say that this movie was amazing! I know as critics it is your job to nitpic at every little detail but come on. Just sit back for once and enjoy. Maybe critics need to watch these movies with real audiences instead of private screenings for critics. Movies are made for entertainment and this movie entertains. The entire sold out theater laughed hysterically the entire movie and then gave it a standing ovation at the end. Read the reviews people but give it a chance and make up your own mind. Great movie and it will get plenty of repeat business from all us dullards as some critics have called us.

[NICK]

Indiana Jones and the Crystal Skull comes to mind when i think of this movie.... and wait Spielberg and Shia were involved with that too... wierd. Boom Roasted!

I'd rather only be able to watch "The Room" for the rest of my life then ever see this "film" again

[Asana]

This... "The one thing that bothered me about the Transformer battles in the first movie was that you couldn't quite make out everything that was going on in giant robot hand-to-hand combat. It wasn't a deal breaker, but it was noticeable."

Outside of everything else the above quote represents what annoyed me the most about the first flick and I'll be damned if I pay theater prices for more annoyance. That the rest of the film is little more than window dressing to the computer generated effects is just another nail in a well hammered coffin. I''m all for mindless fun but completely mindless and without fun? No. Harry Potter and The Half Blood Prince has been my event movie for this year ever since it got moved and that still hasn't changed.

[jp]

usually with a movie that has such a huge back "fanboy" base backing critics will tear into the movie because they feel there is an absence of 'soul' but for the true fan that soul has been inside them for many years... case in point, I am not making a comparison when it comes to overall movies but you can get the same type of reaction to people who read "Twilight" and the ones who didn't and watched the movie... there's nothing driving them to see the movie whereas those with background interest in the film will look for every detail from what they know inside them.

Okay, maybe it was a bad comparison to use "Twilight", but same could be said with the Harry Potter franchise...

I haven't seen it yet but everyone who is like me and has a vested interest in the movie loved it...